For advisers, I think it’s a dangerous time to stay entirely in 'IBM mode' with fund selection.
To get your clients properly diversified today you need to heed Ogilvy’s advice and seek out some “non-conformists, rebels and dissenters” to avoid excessive concentration.
Stock markets appear far from cheap on average today. The good news is that within them there remain plenty of attractive long-term, contrarian investment opportunities today.
So, diversification is possible, provided you are prepared to move away from the crowded areas such as the Magnificent Seven. Reassuringly, this is also leaving our portfolios with meaningfully lower than average correlations.
In a neat twist of history, IBM ended up moving their advertising account to Ogilvy’s eponymously named firm in the 1990s.
Despite their dominant position in the IT industry at the time, they clearly recognised the benefits of adding some of his differentiated approach to their business.
Chances are that today, you can enhance your clients’ portfolios by doing the same.
Dan Brocklebank is UK head of Orbis Investments
